In Another Life
by LivesUnderTheSea
Summary: Quick little snapshot headcanon that came to me and would not go away. Involves a younger Serena and Bernie...and their children!
1. chapter 1

**Little one short I wrote following 1) A conversation with Emma regarding berena and babies 2) A late night headcanon that spontaneously hit me and wouldn't go away 3) Reading other fics and just really feeling inspired, to be honest!**

 **This is actually written for Emma; I hope you have a very happy birthday! Enjoy! xxx**

With a fatigued sigh, Serena fumbled with her keys on the doorstep, dropping her bag carelessly to detangle the newest addition of keyrings- a small scramble of pink and purple rubber bands Charlotte had lovingly made for her earlier that week- from the key itself.

"Mummy!" Came the instant cheers as she pushed on the door handle and, before she'd actually managed to place both feet onto the mat, two small children had raced through the hallway and hurled themselves at Serena.

"Hello," She smiled, crouching down to the infants and pulling them both into a hug. Cam lifted up a small boy toy car to her face, as she absently kicked the door shut and concentrated on his lively explanation into who was driving it and where to.

"Well, that's very impressive. Now, what about these?" She rooted in her bag animatedly, her facial expression turning dramatically to one of surprise- much to the toddlers' delight- when she pulled out a packet of wine gums in triumph.

"Share them!" Called a familiar voice from the other side of the house, as Charlotte ran off with the sweets, her brother following closely behind.

Despite the clear chaos (Serena had noted the complete bombsite of a living room), she felt so much more at peace here, with the ones she adored most. Serena loved medicine; it was half of her life. But this half seemed so much more fulfilled and so much brighter than the dismal scenes of heartbreak and hardship that often played out on their ward.

"Starting them early then?" Bernie walked through the hallway, as Serena bent down to untie her shoes, tiny baby Elinor bobbing on her hip.

"Oh, they'd sleep a lot better if there _were_ alcohol in them! Actually- that's a really good business idea…" Serena smiled, her head springing up at the idea, a wide grin on her face at the sight of her wife and daughter before her.

"Hello, you." Serena cooed at her daughter, who had now woken fully and her wide eyes looking up to her with delight.

"And you," She added, turning to Bernie and placing a kiss to her softly, interrupted by Elinor's outreached arms and cheery gurgling.

"Come here then," She smiled, taking Ellie from Bernie's arms and pulling her briefly to her chest in a warm embrace, before spinning her onto her own hip and following Bernie through to the kitchen.

"Good day?" Bernie turned to face her, continuing to stir the pan of… vegetables it seemed.

"Mm," Serena nodded contently. "Busy. Very very busy because _someone_ left their share of paperwork incomplete so _someone's wife_ had to save the day… sound familiar?" Serena quirked her eyebrow when Bernie's no-doubt-guilty face failed to meet Serena's, as she continued to push the onions around the pan.

"Oh really?" Bernie flipped around, a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Yes, really, Bernie. It's not bloody funny. I spent half the day wading through it all!" Serena tried being serious, but Bernie's expression and Elinor's tumbling giggles faltered the- admittedly weak- façade of severity when she too broke into a smile.

"You're ridiculous." Bernie hummed, returning to the hob and finally mixing in the tomatoes.

"It was your handiwork, missus." Serena volleyed back, moving to lean against the sideboard and shuffled Ellie onto her other side.

"Oh shush."

"Mummy's going to be in big trouble with Henrik on Monday." Serena sang to Ellie, who now had Serena's finger in her own little fist.

"Mummy's going to what?" Bernie spun back around, her eyes narrowed. "What have you done?"

"Ah, that's a surprise, my darling." Serena grinned, bouncing Ellie again, causing her to giggle joyously, as if sharing their own little secret.

"Partners in crime, you two." Bernie smiled, waving the wooden spoon around, pointing to them both.

"Got to be prepared with you around! Who knows what will be next… Good job I sort the mortgage. Bloody hell, I dread to thi-"

"Alright! Alright! I'll sort it, okay?" Bernie feigned surrender and turned off the gas.

"That's what I like to hear!" Serena joyed, stalking up behind her to place a quick kiss to Bernie's cheek, before spinning back around to group together their children as she heard the clatter of plates behind her.


	2. 2

"Cam, don't touch those," Serena gently tugged the toddler away, as his hands soared up, over, and along the harsh grain of the tall wooden planks that lay down the extent of the aisle.

"Because else you'll end up with a splinter." Bernie completed immediately before Cam struck his hand away sharply with a wail.

Serena shot her wife an accusing scorn of disapproval, before realising it was practically impossible- therefore stupid on her part, Bernie would later point out- that it had been down to the other mother. Ms Wolfe may have extraordinary talents, but mindpower was not one of them...neither was the judgement in behaviour of two tumbling tots in a DIY store...

"That wasn't me!" Bernie protested at the glare, though still transferred a tired looking Elinor from her hip to Serena, and approached Cam, still screaming but the tears had halted.

 _Go and assess the damage, Major._ Serena sneered to herself, turning to find Charlotte peering into a bin of sawdust, trying to pull herself up (or it down)... seeing a disastrous scene whirl through her mind, she rushed quickly over to scoop Charlotte away from the bucket in a fit of laughter which, had they been under the radiant warmth of sand, looking across the glittering water, the children occupied by Bernie's exploration of the rockpools and Serena's aid in sandcastle competitions, would have been a delightful tune to Serena's ears- a sound that she'd yearned to hear for so long, a wish come true. In the the tinny setting of a warehouse, however, the ripples of laughter bounced across every surface, reflecting and echoing across the vast emptiness of the hall. Made it sound rather eerie. And irritating as it continued.

"Oh, don't worry, darling. We won't be long! The kids will be _fine_." Serena mimicked lowly into Bernie's ear, now she had returned, removing the splinter and giving a magic kiss... Serena always imagined Bernie would be the harsh parent- the one laying the law down and making the authority clear- but it really wasn't. Serena found herself jumping on the brakes that are parenting far more frequently to Bernie. In fact, Bernie usually disregarded the speed limit, and accelerated through red lights to hear the excited squeals of her children. So, no telling off for Cam...again.

"We won't be long." Bernie resisted the sigh of brief exhaustion, momentary desperation, but still held out her arms in offer of Ellie.

"Oh no, you don't." Serena lightly- some could say angrily- chuckled, spinning the baby onto her other hip, out of reach. "I take the baby, you take the tots." This, Bernie knew, was not a request but a demand.

She saw the familiar, fleeting look of both confusion (probably a how-is-this-fair-Serena look, of narrow eyes,pursed lips) and challenge (this-major-is-always-up-for-a-challenge look: brighter eyes, bolder smirk). Once a shared look across the ward, the couple found it becoming increasingly popular in the realms of parenting, not just about patients.

"We need satin paint." Serena continued, taking full pleasure in the leisurely speed she was following her family down the middle of the store, Bernie chasing after Charlotte already.

"Mummy's going to think twice next time, isn't she?" Serena sang to Ellie, bouncing her slightly in her hold, causing the infant to babble in thrill.

"Heard that, Campbell." was the quipped reply from her wife... well, Serena presumed that was all, though the remark had been fading rather rapidly as she'd watch Bernie danced off behind a model shed after a runaway Wolfe.

"Hold my hand, and do NOT let go." Through gritted teeth, Bernie returned down the aisle, armed with one child on each side, though how they were keeping up with her engrained military stance, Serena would never know.

"Everything okay, darling?" Serena smiled, somewhat sympathethically- she'd faced these dilemmas more than she'd like to remember. On Serena's part, the chaos was usually contained to the household or spread so thinly over large grounds that the impact was as minimal as possible... and more importantly, not really traceable. Bernie however? Well, this blonde, tough, slightly (definitely,now) ruffled, army medic- fountain of all surgical trauma knowledge? This practical woman decides that shopping for paint is a _brilliant_ idea with two 'enthusiastic' toddlers and a volatile baby.

"Let's just get the paint and sodding well-"

"Language, Berenice." Serena hushed, leaning in as Bernie swept past to take lead, earning a daring glance over her shoulder.

"What colour, Mummy?" Charlotte tugged at Bernie's shirt, with quite a force for a two-year-old. If she hadn't the pulse of a sprinter thumping through her temples, Bernie would have been impressed.

"White, sweetheart." Bernie replied in a slow exhale, whilst Serena smirked, both scanning the vast,rather intimidating, shelves stacked tall with gleaming tins.

Instantly, Bernie regretted her answer, used initially as a temporary filler for peace, as Charlotte pulled on her, attempting with all her might to heave her in each and every direction, questioning the colour of alternate tins on the second row.

By the eighth repetition, Cam had also interjected his opinions of the lids and Serena had been resisting the urge to hysterics, opting for the moral choice of coming to her wife's rescue.

"Charlotte, why don't we go and look at the butterflies?" Serena took Charlotte's other hand as she watched Bernie all too eagerly release her grip.

"Butterflies?" Bernie responded with a single worded answer of confusion, whereas Charlotte's identical response seemed far more excited about the prospect.

"Not real ones, silly!" Serena smiled, before leading Charlotte away, chattering on about insects they'd found at play group. She took a glance back before turning the corner, Bernie looking positively frazzled as she returned to the looming wall.

Twenty minutes later, and by some miracle, all 3 children were safely buckled back in the car: Elinor drifting soundly asleep, Charlotte and Cam discussing...something or other- neither mother cared at this point. They were just thankful to have made it out all in one piece.

"What did I say, Bern?" Serena sung, poking at Bernie's arm as she closed the boot.

"Hm, good point, well made." Bernie turned to face her partner, could feel her head ebbing.

"Made?! We demonstrated it, darling." Serena chuckled, before snatching the keys from Bernie's grasp, sensing her fatigue.

"Ta." Bernie smiled back, stealing a quick kiss before they crossed paths in swapping sides.

Jdheidnaks

"Finally," Serena took a long and loud exhale as she unlocked the door and watched the newly-energised toddlers skitter past, holding the door for Bernie to carry the bags through, she looked down to Elinor snuffled against her chest, eyes tight shut and her heart soared. Three times around and the sight didn't get any older.

"She's out for the count." Serena hushed, following Bernie through to the kitchen, where Kettle boiling had already commenced. Thank Christ.

Above her, she heard the gentle thuds of tiny feet and a distance high giggle. Smiling to herself for the joy that filled the house, the final moment of tranquility, the trials of the day briefly playing to her mind...

"I love you, Bernie." Serena smiled, shifting Ellie into her arms properly, looking up with an adoration she'd only ever known to be of fiction, that she now knew it to be true though it still felt like a dream (and granted, nightmare) sometimes.

"I love you too." Bernie smiled, striding over to kneel by where she was sat on the dining room chair. "You okay?" Tentatively, a puzzled look of concern hit reality and replaced the love eyes.

"Yeah," Serena tilted her head back and closed her eyes to feel a sharp sting at the darkness- how many hours had she /actually/ gotten last night? Returning to Bernie's eyes, she sighed with the exhaustion finally hitting home. "You may drag me around the warehouse three times over, you may make stupid decision to drag the kids in toll, you may neglect to tell me in the FIRST place that Cam decided to get creative with the crayons on the living room wall... But I love you. You're a wonderful mother, fantastic surgeon, and a gorgeous wife."

Bernie reflected the loving smile on her partner's face and jumped forward to capture Serena's lips. The jerk of Bernie's force on the chair, however, caused Ellie to bolt awake, though only by gentle gurgling rather than shrieks at the disruption...no she saved those for when Bernie was drifting into a final slumber.

"Sorry, sweetheart." Bernie cooed, taking her from Serena's hold and swaying her, hopefully, back to sleep. Serena coughed noticeably, frowning at Bernie when she finally engaged in the eye contact.

"Sorry, sweetheart." She repeated, more grumbling this time around.

Serena rose at the kettle's ping, practically lunging forward with the most part of her remaining energy, for the cafeteria. She spun around for the milk, to find herself stepping into Bernie's hold.

"Where's-" Serena was too tired to be considered dazed, more of a total lapse in memory. How long had she been at the kettle?

"Living room. Asleep." Serena relaxed into her wife's embrace, shutting her eyes once more.

They stood for a moment,just appreciating the quiet. The calm before the storm of the evening, she supposed. Bernie moved away slightly to look at Serena, a smirk threatening to curl on her lips.

"Garden centre tomorrow?"

"Not on your life."


End file.
